The present invention relates generally to billing systems, and more particularly, to a consolidated billing system and method for telecommunication and Internet services.
A user may access telecommunication services in the current telecommunication environment by subscribing to conventional telecommunication carriers such as, for example, an Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC), a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), a Satellite Carrier, or a Cellular Carrier. These carriers typically provide telecommunication services by transporting the calls on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). When the user selects a carrier, it is assigned a telephone number which is xe2x80x9cownedxe2x80x9d by the carrier. When the user utilizes the telecommunication services, the user typically receives a bill at the end of the month, which details the service usage. The details of the service usage, however, are typically limited to the placed called, the called number, and the associated data, time, duration and cost of the service. Since the called number may not be xe2x80x9cownedxe2x80x9d by the carrier providing the bill, the service provider does not provide the identity of the called party by name, and is only able to provide basic information.
A conventional bill for telecommunication services typically includes itemized charges for long distance charges as well as the information about each call, such as, for example, the date the call was made, the time the call was made, the place called, the number called, the code (i.e. day or evening), the length of the call and the amount of the call. However, it may be difficult for the user to identify and confirm the calls based on this limited information, especially when the bill may not received until several weeks after the calls are made. Moreover, the user may be unable to select the type of transport (i.e. PSTN or Internet) or the type of carrier on the selected transport to effect the connection for the user in certain applications such as, for example, voice over the internet applications (VOIP). As a result, conventional bills for telecommunication systems typically do not provide information concerning the transport selected, the carrier selected, or the quality of service for a particular call.
Attempts to identify the called party based on the called number using publicly available CD""s having the names and addresses of people and businesses have usually been unsuccessful due to the fact that the information on these CD""s is typically not up to date. Moreover, publicly available CD""s may be rendered useless for this application once Local Number Portability becomes a reality.
Internet service providers (ISP) typically bill users of the Internet based on a flat monthly rate or a flat rate plus usage (connect time) for Internet access. The disadvantage of this arrangement is that the user is not presented with a bill that provides detailed information with respect to each purchase of goods or services from the Internet. Moreover, if the user desires to purchase a product or service advertised on the Internet, the transaction is between the user and the provider of the goods or services, and the ISP is not involved. Any purchases that are made by the subscriber are therefore transparent to the ISP. As a result, when using a credit card to purchase goods or services from the Internet, the user may have to disclose confidential credit card information to the provider of the goods or services.
In some cases, the user may purchase goods, services, or content by calling a special number such as, for example, a xe2x80x9c900xe2x80x9d number. However, the charges for these types of purchases may only be reflected as a call to the special number on the telecommunication bill. Moreover, when purchasing content based information from the Internet such as, for example, news information, weather reports, etc., the user typically has no means to route the information to a specific device such as a cellular phone, an office phone, an office facsimile machine, or home facsimile machine.
Certain carriers that provide multiple services such as wireline, wireless and paging services do provided consolidated billing for these services. However, ISP""s and telecommunication carriers are typically operated separately. As a result, conventional billing systems typically do not provide consolidated billing for telecommunication and Internet services. As a result, a user may receive multiple bills from various service providers, which can be inconvenient for the user. Moreover, bill consolidation for telecommunication and Internet services may be required as service providers integrate these two technologies with technological advances such as, for example, voice over the internet.
In a conventional billing system, the Call Detail Record (CDR) tracks the usage of the telecommunications service by a caller. At the end of the billing cycle, the calls are rated based on the CDR and a bill assigned to that caller is generated for the telecommunication services used. The bill typically only includes basic information such as, for example, the date, the time, the place called, the number called, and duration of the call. The caller may also subscribe to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The ISP provides access to the Internet so that the caller can have access to content, goods or services of interest to the caller. The caller typically pays the merchant for any content, goods, or services directly or by using telecommunication services such as, for example, dialing a xe2x80x9c900xe2x80x9d number. The caller""s bill for telecommunication services usually does not include any information relating to the Internet content, goods, or services purchased by the caller.